Monday, May 30, 2011

Memorial day has always held a special meaning for us here in Virginia. In every war since our founding, heroic Virginians have played a crucial part in defending the liberty we all enjoy.

Each year on this day, let us remember those heroic Americans who have sacrificed themselves in the name of our founding principles. It is with great thanks that we spend this day in honor of those who have safeguarded our flag and defended our Republic against those who are threatened by the shining beacon of hope and freedom that is America.

This nation will always depend on the heroes who protect and defend our liberty.

Please take a minute with your family and friends to pause and remember the fallen servicemen and women who have done so much to preserve and protect the nation our founders established and that we cherish. Pray for the families they left behind and never forget the sacrifices they made.

Sincerely,

Ken Cuccinelli, II

Attorney General of Virginia

Tell others to sign up for The Cuccinelli Compass at Attorney General Cuccinelli's Website:http://www.Cuccinelli.com

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Fellow Patriots,

Yesterday, we announced a Telephone Town Hall with Ken Cuccinelli, on Thursday, May 26 at 8:15PM EDT. There are still a few hours left to register for the call, but you must REGISTER HERE.

We are proud to bring you this unique opportunity to speak live with Virginia's Attorney General. Ken Cuccinelli's future is bright. He is loved by Tea Parties all over the country and he is a true American hero. He is dedicated to protecting our liberty and our Constitution.

Mr. Cuccinelli has agreed to answer a few questions, so come prepared! Don't miss this opportunity to participate in the Telephone Town Hall. Tea Party Patriots' Co-Founders and National Coordinators, Jenny Beth Martin and Mark Meckler will also be joining the call.

As we mentioned yesterday, we are proud to bring you these calls free of charge, but the Telephone Town Hall service is not free. Please consider making a donation to Tea Party Patriots. All donations today will go towards covering today's Telephone Town Hall and future Town Halls. We sincerely appreciate your support. DONATE HERE

Tea Party Patriots, Inc. operates as a social welfare organization organized under section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code. Contributions to Tea Party Patriots, Inc. are not deductible as charitable contributions for income tax purposes.

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Fellow Patriots,

We are excited to announce a free, live conference call with Virginia's Attorney General and rising conservative star, Ken Cuccinelli!!! Mr. Cuccinelli will be joining us tomorrow evening, Thursday, May 26th at 8:15PM EDT. Mark you calendars!

Ken Cuccinelli is the Attorney General of Virginia and is widely considered one of the rising stars in the conservative movement. He is most well known for leading the charge in the courts against ObamaCare. Mr. Cuccinelli will be joining us to talk about the unconstitutional healthcare law, his recent arguments in front of the 4th Circuit Court, and the future of Virginia's lawsuit, which is on the fast track to the Supreme Court.

The reason Ken Cuccinelli has gained so much national attention from Tea Party groups is that he is one of the few who is not afraid to stand up to federal government to protect the Constitution. He has also worked to block the EPA's overreach of their authority and ensure that they abide by the laws that Congress and the Constitution have set out for them.

Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli is a true America hero and abides by Tea Party Patriots' three principles of Constitutionally Limited Government, Fiscal Responsibility and Free Markets.

Do not miss this opportunity to talk with Mr Cuccinelli. Mark you calendars now!

Thursday, May 24th

8:30PM EDT

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

We are proud to bring this call to you free of charge, but the conference call services are not free. Please consider making a donation to Tea Party Patriots. All funds raised today will go towards this, and future, conference calls. We sincerely appreciate your support.

Tea Party Patriots, Inc. operates as a social welfare organization organized under section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code. Contributions to Tea Party Patriots, Inc. are not deductible as charitable contributions for income tax purposes.

Do you think the states should stand up against the federal government when it steps over the bounds our founders set for it?

And do you think the federal government has stepped over these bounds too often and for too long?

My answer to both questions is a resounding, YES!

And I know that if you are reading The Compass, you agree with me too.

Since being elected Virginia's Attorney General in 2009, I have done everything in my power to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States and of Virginia.I have worked tirelessly to safeguard liberty and push back against those who seek to take it away from us.

Virginia has pushed back against the unconstitutional healthcare bill passed by Congress and signed by the president last year. We have also worked to block the EPA's overreach of their authority and ensure that they abide by the laws that Congress and the Constitution have set out for them.

So far - we have been met mostly with success, despite the opposition of the Obama Administration, Democrats in Virginia and across the country, as well as the powerful liberal media.

In order to make sure that I am able to defend myself from these attacks and ensure that I'm able to prevail in my next election, I need your help today.Many on the left are already gearing up to oppose me in my next election.

That's why today I am announcing an ambitious push to raise $38,000 in 38 days online.Raising 38k in 38 days will push me over the top on my June 30th deadline for our financial report - and be a key indicator that I'm able to defend myself against the liberal attacks as we move forward.

Your support today will allow me to fight back when the liberals attack me for doing my job - protecting and defending the Constitution. And you will help me build up my campaign war chest to counter the funds sure to be used to defeat me as we gear up for our next race.

Monday, May 23, 2011

Two weeks ago, we had our oral argument in Virginia's case against the federal health care legislation - specifically against the individual mandate.It was an interesting day, and I wanted to offer you a few reflections on the hearing.

Virginia is in the 4th Circuit of federal appellate courts.The states of Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, and North and South Carolina are the states in the 4th Circuit.Last Tuesday, we argued before a 3 judge panel of the 4th Circuit.There are 14 judges on the entire bench in the 4th Circuit.Our 3 judge panel was randomly selected from the judges on the 4th Circuit.As you may have read, our panel was composed of: Judge Motz, appointed in 1994 by President Clinton; Judge Davis, appointed in 2009 by President Obama; and Judge Wynn, appointed in 2010 by President Obama.

Also arguing in front of the same panel was Liberty University.We are in the interesting position in Virginia of having two different cases, with different parties, not one.There are two federal districts in Virginia - the Eastern District and the Western District, and there was a separate case in each district.

In the district court, Virginia's case was in the Eastern District, where we won.Liberty's case was brought in the Western District, where they lost.So, in the 4th Circuit, the U.S. had appealed our case and Liberty appealed its case.

In the 4th Circuit, one 3 judge panel cannot overrule another 3 judge panel.Thus, to maintain consistency in rulings, both cases were put in front of the same 3 judge panel.

The 4th Circuit is known for asking a lot of questions and probing the responses thoroughly.Our hearing was no exception.The two hearings were scheduled for about an hour and a half total, but they went well over two hours - approaching two and a half hours total.

The pressure that builds up on the lawyers in such an extended set of exchanges does serve a useful purpose.The lawyer for the federal government, the Acting Solicitor General of the U.S., was pushed into a couple of very candid statements that I found fascinating - especially at the very end of the hearing.

But first, it is helpful to have a brief reminder of the basics of the case - though I know most of you have been following this case closely.

There are four elements to this case: 1) standing, 2) the individual mandate under the commerce clause, 3) the penalty under the taxing power, and 4) any remedy, particularly in light of the absence of a severance clause in the bill.The fourth item was not addressed in the hearing, so I will just address the first three.

The Hearing

The U.S. pushed hard to knock Virginia out on standing, i.e., the idea that Virginia doesn't even have the right to bring its case.The federal government seem down right offended with the concept that Virginia could have a law and when the federal government later enacts a conflicting law, that the clash between the two would be a sufficient basis for Virginia to bring a lawsuit.

One of the judges asked us "is all a state has to do to have standing to sue the federal government is pass a law?"Our answer? "Yes."

It's worth remembering that the states' representatives wrote the constitution that established our federal government, and it was adopted by the people's representatives in constitutional conventions across America.As one of my children might say, "we were here first."

It may appear to some to be inconvenient for states to have the authority of a co-sovereign with the federal government, but it seems a small price to pay for the federal government in exchange for its very existence.It is also critical to federalism that states be able to challenge federal overreaches of power that would trample state laws.It might be nice if we didn't have so many "opportunities" to address such overreaches of federal power, but they've been keeping us pretty busy in that regard!

During the hearing, there was a discussion of a 'parade of horribles.'One of the examples was, 'well, if Virginia can sue over this, then they could pass a law saying its citizens couldn't be sent to Afghanistan to fight the war.'Well, Virginia could theoretically pass such a law and even bring a lawsuit, which the federal government would quickly win because it has the power "to raise and support Armies" under Art. I, §8 of the constitution.

As we said in the courtroom, 'yes, Virginia would have standing - standing to lose the case.'Again, there may be an element of inconvenience to the federal government, but that hardly seems a significant concern in order to provide a co-sovereign the dignity of a mere attempt to protect its own code of laws.

The concept of state sovereign standing has been recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court to allow a state to defend its code of laws.Every other federal circuit court of appeals to directly address the issue has found that a state has standing to defend its code of laws from federal challenge.I am hopeful that the 4th Circuit will come to the same conclusion in our case.

The Merits, i.e., the Meat of the Case

The issue that the Court spent the most time on was, not surprisingly, the individual mandate.As I mentioned earlier, I found two of the federal government's statements during the case to be particularly interesting.

The first statement was to describe what is supposedly being regulated via the individual mandate.The feds said fairly early in the oral argument that the individual mandate is part of an attempt to "regulate the decision to self-insure."This is their way of trying to cast an individual citizen's decision in commercial terms (remember, we're mainly debating the reach of the commerce clause).

It's a very clever way of saying 'we are regulating your decision to do nothing.'

The commerce clause cases during the last 100 years have addressed regulating some sort of activity; and they have used the word "activity."The feds are trying to overcome the fact that there is no activity being regulated, so they have to come up with creative excuses for activity and say that that's what the legislation regulates.Thus, in the hearing on May 10th, they argued that the "decision to self-insure" was the activity being regulated.

A problem with this line of argument is that it logically leads to a "decision" being equivalent to an "activity."I.e., thinking something is the same as doing something.The district court judge in the case in D.C. ruled that the individual mandate is constitutional, and she actually acknowledged and approved of the fact that the individual mandate is regulating "mental activity."George Orwell would be proud, but let's face it, that judge accurately describes what the federal government is trying to do!

If you take a decision alone, without more, there's no activity there - just thought - then the government is equating inactivity to activity.That is their argument.

The second statement came nearly at the end of over two hours of discussion, questions and answers.One of the judges indicated that she was not comfortable with the federal government's attempt to address our activity/inactivity distinction, and in response, the lawyer for the federal government said that even if the court found that there was no activity of any kind, that the law was constitutional anyway.This was an astonishing statement.

In other words, instead of trying to convince the court that there was some kind of activity going on that the federal government was regulating with the individual mandate, they finally broke down and said that - in their view - they didn't even need any activity anyway, they could just order you to go buy their government-approved product (in this case, health insurance).

This would convert Congress' authority to regulate interstate commerce into an unbounded power - just as I have been arguing all along.

Up until this point, the federal government has danced around this issue.But when pressed, they finally conceded the sweeping nature of their claim of power.

If the feds' position is upheld, it would essentially swallow up much of the rest of the constitution.If you don't even need to do anything to be subject to federal regulation under the commerce power, then the feds can reach vast areas of our society now thought immune from federal authority.

Oh, and by the way, federalism would be dead and liberty would be badly damaged...

That's why I always say that this case is about liberty, not health care.

What's Next?

It will likely take a couple of months for the 4th Circuit to issue its order in our case.If we win,I suspect that the federal government will NOT appeal to the Supreme Court, rather, they would attempt to drag the case out by seeking what is called "en banc" review.That means a rehearing by the full 4th Circuit - all 13 active judges.Only then would whichever side loses at that hearing be able to appeal to the Supreme Court.

If we lose, we will likely appeal to the Supreme Court directly, in the hopes of resolving this case as quickly as possible.

As we wait for the outcome in our case, there are three others headed to appellate courts around the country.

On June 1st, the 6th Circuit will hear an appeal in Cincinnati of a case brought by the St. Thomas More Society and others.

On June 8th, the 11th Circuit will hear the appeal of 26 of our sister states in Atlanta.Their case is an appeal brought by the U.S. Government, as was the situation in our case.

Then, in September, the case in Washington, D.C. that I referenced earlier ("mental activity") will also be argued.

As I get news of the other cases, I will pass it along to you.And of course, when we get our order, I'll let you know!

A Separate Note

At the same time that tornadoes were ripping through much of the Southeast, Virginia was hit too.Five Virginians were killed and much damage occurred in Southwest Virginia.

If you are willing, I would appreciate it if you would donate to a relief effort to help our Virginia families.You can do so by clicking on: http://www.vaemergency.com/

Thanks for helping!

Sincerely,

Ken Cuccinelli, II

Attorney General of Virginia

Tell others to sign up for The Cuccinelli Compass at Attorney General Cuccinelli's Website:http://www.Cuccinelli.com